Lord Falconer of Thoroton: On 1 April 2005, I will launch Her Majesty's Courts Service. The new agency brings together 43 organisations: the Court Service and the 42 magistrates' courts committees.
	The following table sets out the key performance targets which I have set for her Majesty's Courts Service for 2005-06.
	
		
			 Relevant PSA Headline targets criminal courts Performance required by March 2006 
			 PSA 1 (SR 2002 and 2004) Increasing offences brought to justice: Reducing the proportion of ineffective criminal trials Not more than 17 per cent in the Crown CourtNot more than 23 per cent in magistrates' courts 
			 PSA 1 (SR 2002 and 2004) Ensuring cases are disposed of promptly 78 per cent of cases start on time in the Crown Court 
			 PSA 1 (SR 2002 and 2004) Average case length for persistent young offenders Not more than 71 days 
			 PSA 1 (SR 2002 and 2004) Maintain the number of sitting days in the Crown Court 104,200 sitting days 
			 PSA 2 (SR 2002 and 2004) Improve enforcement of fines and execution of community penalty breach warrants A payment rate of 81 per cent or above The different individual area targets for warrant execution are met 
			 Relevant PSA Headline targets Civil and Family Courts Performance required by March 2006 
			 PSA 3 (SR 2002)PSA 5 (SR 2004) Hearings and orders Increase the proportion of contact and ancillary relief orders made by consent to 73.4 per cent Reduce by 5 per cent the proportion of disputed claims in the courts that are ultimately resolved by a hearing 
			 PSA 4-PSA 5 (SR 2002)PSA 5 (SR2004) Claims Increase by 2 per cent the number of small claims that are heard within the target time 
			 PSA 4 (SR 2002) Increase the level of user satisfaction in key areas User satisfaction with: knowledge of court staff at public counter 85 per centknowledge of staff on telephone service 80 per centspeed of resolution of complaints 60 per centhelpfulness of written communication 80 per cent 
			 PSA 4 (SR 2004) Public Law Children Act Cases (vulnerable children) To improve performance in the time taken to complete care cases heard in the courts against the 40 week target (ultimately by 10 percentage points by 2010) 
			 PSA 4 (SR 2002) Adoptions Complete 70 per cent of cases in County Courts within 20 weeks 
		
	
	Copies of the HM Courts Service framework document and the Business Plan for 2005-06 have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The United Kingdom, as lead nation, salutes the determination of President Karzai and his government in implementing the 1384(2005) Counter-narcotics Implementation Plan. The plan is a framework for action to accelerate all our efforts over the coming year and sets out counter-narcotics (CN) activities ahead under eight pillars:
	building institutions
	information campaign
	alternative livelihoods
	interdiction and law enforcement
	criminal justice
	eradication
	demand reduction and treatment of addicts
	regional co-operation.
	The adoption of this plan follows the successful holding by President Karzai in December 2004 of the first counter-narcotics national conference in Afghanistan. At that conference and since then, President Karzai has delivered powerful messages to reinforce his strong determination to act against all aspects of the narcotics trade.
	The UK welcomes this renewed commitment and joins with the wider international community in pledging our collective, increased support for the 2005 plan. There are some early signs that this year may see an overall reduction in opium poppy cultivation levels. However, as it is still early in the harvest cycle, we need to wait for the UN assessments later in the year on levels of cultivation and on how much of the crop in the fields has been destroyed.
	The UK has increased its spending to $100 million this year on counter-narcotics activities in Afghanistan. Specifically, we are stepping up activity in support of the 2005 plan in the following ways:
	On creating alternative livelihoods for farmers who currently grow opium poppy
	Following the visit of my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for International Development to Afghanistan in January 2005, the UK has pledged $125 million of support for alternative livelihoods in 2005-06; our alternative livelihoods commitment has more than doubled annually from 2002-03 to 2005-06. The UK is also leading the way in pressing some of the larger multilateral donors, such as the World Bank, to include counter-narcotics objectives in their programmes. Activities include:
	substantial support to activities to bring short term, visible impact in 2005, building on the $5 million already made available for "cash for work";
	support to a wide range of agricultural and off-farm income-generating activities in poppy-growing provinces;
	increasing access to credit to rural areas, and developing products to address the specific problem of opium debt;
	assessing opportunities to promote alternative products to opium poppy, and more favourable terms of trade for those products; and
	improving the co-ordination and implementation of development and counter-narcotics programmes in Badakhshan, where the UK has already committed more than $7.5 million.
	On law enforcement
	The UK has mapped out and is co-ordinating the development of the Counter-narcotics Police of Afghanistan (CNPA), working with other lead nations to establish the counter-narcotics capacity of all Afghan law enforcement institutions. As part of the CNPA development plan, the UK is establishing a further nine mobile detection teams (over 100 officers) in the next 18 months, capable of interdicting drug traffickers in Kabul and the provinces. We are also providing mentoring for intelligence and investigation units. We are looking to international donors to contribute to the CNPA development plan. We also welcome the recent results of the Afghan Special Narcotics Force (ASNF), for which the UK has provided advice and funding. The force has seized over 75 tonnes of opiates, destroyed 80 drugs labs and disrupted two drugs bazaars during the past year.
	On developing the criminal justice system
	The UK, working with the UN, has set up and completed the first phase of training and mentoring of the Counter-narcotics Criminal Justice Task Force of investigators, prosecutors and judges. The task force will be 80 strong by mid-2005. We have also funded UNODC (nearly $2 million) to establish a secure court and prison facility for counter-narcotics.
	On eradication of the opium crop
	This will be carried out in 2005 by the US-supported Central Poppy Eradication Force (CPEF) and by governors and police chiefs at local level. The UK is working closely in both these areas and has established a planning and monitoring cell to ensure that eradication by CPEF is targeted in a way which takes account of alternative livelihoods. We are also helping CPEF with salaries and equipment and are the major donor for verification and assessment of the eradication campaign to ensure it is carried out: over $1 million to establish 30 ground-based verification teams (240 people) and satellite imagery. The first 15 verification teams should produce preliminary results by March.
	On building the institutions necessary to support long-term Afghan commitment
	The UK is helping to build central and provincial capacity in a number of key government institutions, including the new Counter-narcotics (CN) Ministry under Minister Qaderi, the counter-narcotics function within the Ministry of the Interior, the Rural Reconstruction Ministry, the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Civil Service Commission and the Cabinet Secretariat.
	On lobbying
	My right honourable friends the Foreign Secretary and the development Secretary have now launched a substantial lobbying campaign to encourage international partners, including the G8, the EU, the US, neighbouring countries of Afghanistan and other Berlin conference participants, to support the plan and help establish the new Counter-narcotics Trust Fund. The aim of this fund will be to pull together donor support for the Afghan Government's counter-narcotics priorities. The April 2005 Afghan Development Forum will be an important opportunity for the Afghan Government to seek additional support for alternative livelihoods.
	The UK is also working with Afghan and international partners:
	to raise public awareness of the risks to Afghanistan of the drugs trade and the dangers to health from addiction associated with growing opium poppy through proactive and comprehensive information campaigns and drug treatment activities; and
	to increase regional co-operation to tackle the drugs trade across borders through implementation of the April 2004 Berlin Declaration on Counter-narcotics within the framework of the Kabul Good Neighbourly Relations Declaration of December 2002. In 2004-05, the UK provided around $2.5 million of assistance to increase counter-narcotics capacity on Afghanistan's borders with Iran, Pakistan and Tajikistan, the three main routes for opiates being smuggled out of Afghanistan. Further such assistance is planned for financial year 2005-06.
	My right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary (Mr Jack Straw) visited Kabul on 16 February, the day President Karzai launched the 2005 CN implementation plan. They agreed on the crucial importance of working together in support of the plan to mobilise international assistance so that narcotics do not destroy Afghanistan's potential for stability, reconstruction and a thriving licit economy. The 2005 plan therefore represents an important opportunity. We share the resolve of the Afghan government to achieve the sustainable elimination of opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan in 2005 and beyond.
	Copies of the plan are being placed in the Library of the House.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Lord Chancellor has today published the Government's response to the Public Administration Select Committee's first report of Session 2004-05 on Government by Inquiry which was published on 3 February 2005. The Government response includes comments on each of the 22 recommendations of the committee.
	The Government welcome the committee's report on the use and effectiveness of independent inquiries into matters of public concern. The committee's response is of immediate relevance to the current parliamentary debate on the Inquiries Bill, which has now entered the House of Commons having completed its passage through the House of Lords.
	The Inquiries Bill is designed to provide a comprehensive statutory framework for inquiries set up by Ministers into events that have caused, or have the potential to cause, public concern.
	The Government believe that government amendments brought forward in the House of Lords address many of the issues raised in the committee's report. However, the Government are keen that the recommendations in the report, and our response published today, should both help to inform the debates on the Inquiries Bill as it continues its passage through Parliament.
	I have placed copies of the response in the Libraries of the House and it has also been published on the Department for Constitutional Affairs website at www.dca.gov.uk.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: My honourable friend the Minister for Energy and e-commerce (Mike O'Brien) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	I am pleased to inform the House that I am today inviting applications for petroleum licences for unlicensed seaward blocks which will form the 23rd round of offshore petroleum licensing. These blocks are located in the strategic environmental assessment (SEA) areas 1-5 (a map of the SEA areas can be found on the website indicated below).
	Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)—Post Adoption Procedures
	The DTI's draft plan to offer licences for offshore oil and gas exploration and production through a 23rd licensing round was the subject of a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) initiated in 2003. The SEA is documented on a dedicated website (www.offshore-sea.org.uk) and includes commissioned reports on various components of the natural environment, cultural features and socio-economic considerations. In addition, as part of the SEA new information was collected, for example, on selected seabed features through sea-floor mapping, sampling and photography, and on the offshore behaviour of seals by means of satellite tagging. The draft plan for the 23rd licensing round included offering blocks within the area to the east of Scotland, and also in those areas that had been subject to earlier DTI SEAs (SEAs 1, 2, 3, and 4) which covered the remaining parts of the UK North Sea exclusive economic zone and the UK EEZ to the north and west of Orkney and Shetland.
	The potential implications of the exploration and production activities which could follow if the draft plan was adopted were considered at an expert assessment workshop and a stakeholder workshop. The results of these workshops were assessed further and documented in an environmental report which then formed the basis for consultation with the consultation bodies and the public. The initiation of a three month consultation period on the DTI's draft plan and environmental report was advertised in a number of local and national newspapers and by e-mail notification to a wide range of individuals and organisations.
	All responses received from statutory and other consultees on the draft plan and the environmental report have been considered by the DTI and a post-consultation report for SEA 5 has been prepared and placed on the SEA website. This summarises consultee comments and DTI responses to them. The full texts of consultee comments have also been placed on the SEA website.
	In deciding to proceed with a 23rd offshore licensing round the DTI has considered the conclusions and recommendations of the SEA 5 environmental report together with feedback received from consultees. As a result of the SEA process, a number of blocks are being withheld from licensing for the present on environmental grounds. These blocks are:
	15/20c, 15/25d, 34/6, 34/7, 34/8, 34/12, 34/13, 34/17, 34/18, 40/15, 41/29, 41/30, 47/11, 47/27, 47/28, 47/29, 47/30, 48/26, 51/3, 51/4, 51/5, 52/1, 52/28.
	Licensing of these blocks may be revisited in the future, for example as more information on the features of interest becomes available. In addition, a number of blocks may be licensed but with conditions attached restricting or prohibiting marine activities. It should be noted that the Offshore Petroleum Production and Pipe-lines (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1999 and the Offshore Petroleum Activities (Conservation of Habitats) Regulations 2001 variously require that all major activities undertaken in connection with UK offshore hydrocarbon exploration and production include environmental assessment as part of consenting.
	In addition, 34 blocks will not be offered for licensing in these SEA areas at the request of the Ministry of Defence
	The DTI has established an offshore oil and gas environmental monitoring committee which is charged with co-ordinating the monitoring of significant environmental effects of the industry, including those that could arise from the implementation of the plan to hold a 23rd round of offshore licensing. The results of this monitoring will be made publicly available, including through the SEA website.
	In addition to the website above, a copy of the SEA report can be reviewed free of charge at:
	Department of Trade and Industry
	1 Victoria Street
	London
	SW1H 0ET
	Arrangements to view the report can be made by telephoning 020 7215 5032.

Lord Warner: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Community (Dr Ladyman) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	In February 2001, my right honourable friend the then Secretary of State for Health (Mr Alan Milburn) announced that the department would be developing a new national service framework (NSF) with a particular focus on the needs of people with neurological conditions. I am pleased to announce that the long-term conditions NSF is today being published. It is an integral part of this government's overall strategy to improve services for people with long-term conditions.
	This NSF covers the full range of issues for people with neurological conditions across health and social care. It has been developed through active consultation with key stakeholders, including people who use services and their carers, and the direct participation of experts and practitioners from the field.
	Although the NSF focuses on people with neurological conditions, much of the guidance it offers can apply to anyone living with a non-neurological long-term condition. Commissioners will therefore be encouraged to use the NSF in planning service developments for people with other long-term conditions.
	The long-term conditions NSF is an evidence-based, 10-year strategy, which advocates a cultural shift in the provision of care, with services being designed and delivered around the needs of people and their families. It highlights the need for high-quality services that offer choice and are prompt, convenient and responsive and that look at the "whole person", rather than at a presenting illness or problem.
	The broad remit of the NSF is covered in 11 quality requirements, which are:
	A person-centred service
	Early recognition, prompt diagnosis and treatment
	Emergency and acute management
	Early and specialist rehabilitation
	Community rehabilitation and support
	Vocational rehabilitation
	Providing equipment and accommodation
	Providing personal care and support
	Palliative care
	Supporting family and carers
	Caring for people with neurological conditions in hospital or other health and social care settings
	The long-term conditions NSF has been developed in line with this government's wider public sector reforms, to devolve power and responsibility to local agencies. While the NSF sets out the levels of service quality which we expect to be available by 2015, the pace of change is to be left to local National Health Service and social care discretion to determine, and will be balanced against other priorities. The costs of implementing the NSF will be met from the additional resources announced in the 2004 spending review for the NHS and adult personal social services.
	Copies of the NSF for long-term conditions have been placed in the Library.